Volcanic Age - Chapter 14

One month went by incredibly quickly.

Ju Seo Cheon, who recently learned the Plum Blossom Sword Art from Yu Jong Mok, pondered how he might pass along his knowledge to his master while using his sword.

He had a clear understanding of the fundamentals already, so he was free to consider alternative ideas.

Ju Seo Cheon, however, was oblivious to something since he was lost in thought.

Yu Jong Mok had been keeping watch over him.

“How is this possible?”

Ju Seo Cheon’s sword swing was visible to Yu Jong Mok, who couldn’t conceal his horror.

“This last year, something appeared off, but I had no idea he would be this bizarre!”

Because it simply requires the fundamentals, Plum Blossom Sword Art is simple. If one has mastered the Plum Blossom Fist Techniques, the difficulty will be significantly reduced.

But even so, after barely a week, it was impossible to use the Plum Blossom Sword Art that peacefully and freely.

Despite Yu Jong Mok’s explanation of the underlying principle, it was strange to be able to reach that degree.

If so, there is only one logical conclusion that can be drawn.

“My disciple was a genius!”

Ju Seo Cheon was by no means a genius.

He didn’t have particularly quick reflexes or a strong natural body, and his blood vessels and constitution weren’t particularly terrific either.

As the teacher of Ju Seo Cheon, Yu Jong Mok was the person who knew that the best.

However, skill wasn’t just restricted to one’s physical or intellectual qualities. It might also be a skill with a sword.

Ju Seo Cheon, in Yu Jong Mok’s opinion, fit such description. No, it was more accurate to say that there had been a misunderstanding.

Ju Seo Cheon was simply following in his predecessors’ footsteps. Additionally, the Plum Blossom Sword Art was only the fundamentals. Because he was unaware of the circumstances, Yu Jong Mok could only conclude that Ju Seo Cheon had a genius-like aptitude for the sword.

Ju Seo Cheon wouldn’t have been able to accomplish as much if he hadn’t endured the torturous training known as the enhancement gymnastics.

He concealed his abilities to the fullest extent possible in order to avoid being discovered as he deliberated on the advice he should provide to his master. But because of the torturous training, he ended up doing every move in the Plum Blossom Sword Art without even realising it.

“He would be allowed to enter the Lotus Pavilion if he were at this level.”

Lotus Pavilion It was a part of the Mount Hua Sect’s internal organisation and, at the same time, a group to which only a few disciples were allowed to belong.

It was, in other words, a condensed version.

It served as a location for disciples who had exceptional talent to get distinct training prior to becoming adults.

The Lotus Pavilion was where special creatures like Jang Moon In and the disciples of the Five Elders were trained.

It was because those disciples had unique masters, who enabled them to move ahead of other disciples.

In addition, nine percent of the Plum Blossom Examiners were Lotus Pavilion alums.

Unfortunately, Yu Jong Mok’s frail constitution prevented him from entering the Lotus Pavilion.

In any case, Ju Seo Cheon’s abilities would make it simple for him to enter the Lotus Pavilion and get more advanced training.

If he was fortunate, he might be given a miraculous drug and might also get special instruction from the teachers.

He would be able to get the best care if he could just demonstrate his talent and strength. Although it may appear harsh, if the group wasn’t a large one like Mount Hua, similar practices were prevalent in smaller cults.

Several days later

Yu Jong Mok received a request from Ju Seo Cheon.

“Please forgive my rudeness, but can you demonstrate me another sword technique besides the Plum Blossom Sword Art, Master?”

“A different sword technique from the Plum Blossom Sword Art?”

“Yes.”

Ju Seo Cheon gave a nod.

On the advice of his disciple, Yu Jong Mok entered his mind.

The pupil had been studying the Plum Blossom Sword Art for just one week. No, it was the student who had only been wielding a sword for a week.

Even if he had talent, it would be insane to teach him a higher-ranked sword technique when he couldn’t even finish the Plum Blossom Sword Art.

Yu Jong Mok was concerned about that.

Ju Seo Cheon observed and swiftly spoke.

“I’m not asking you to teach me, of course. Simply put, aside from the Mount Hua sword style, I have never seen any. As a member of our religion, I wish to see the appropriate sword technique.”

“Well, okay. I understand.”

There wouldn’t be any specific issue if it was just showing and not instructing.

In addition to the Plum Blossom Sword Arts, early inner disciples could be seen practising sword skills if one approached the training facility.

If merely watching was already problematic, he would have prevented him from approaching the training center at an early stage.

Before taking a position, Yu Jong Mok noticed his disciple’s expectant look and lost himself in meditation.

“Let’s see…”

In his mind, five sword techniques began to manifest.

They were the Universe Sword Art, Withered Flower Sword Art, Plum Blossom Brilliant Sword Art, Five Elements Plum Blossom Sword Art, and the Fourteen Stances of the Plum Blossom Sword Art.

The Universe Sword and the Withered Flower Sword were sword techniques that were a level above basic sword techniques.

Most of the inner disciples learn up to this point and descend.

The Plum Blossom Brilliant Sword was one of the few delightful Pleasant Swords in Mount Hua and the Five Elements Plum Blossom Sword was a sword technique that contained the five elements, just like its name implied.

The two of them were at the boundary of being a top-ranked technique and only recognized inner disciples could learn it.

At the same time, it was also a limit for the inner disciples. Excluding these two, top-ranked martial arts couldn’t be learned if you weren’t disciples of the head temple.

Lastly, the Fourteen Stances of the Plum Blossom Sword was a reduced size edition of the Twenty Stances of the Plum Blossom Sword. It was at the peak of the top-ranked martial arts and the difficulty it had was that high. Even Yu Jong Mok wasn’t able to complete it.

“I am now going to show you the Fourteen Stances of the Plum Blossom Sword.”

Yu Jong Mok made a decision at the end of his thoughts. He hadn’t been able to complete it yet but if he was going to show something to his disciple, he wanted to show the best he could.

“I want to ask you something before showing it to you. Do you know about the Fourteen Stances of the Plum Blossom Sword?”

“Yes, master. The Fourteen Stances of the Plum Blossom Sword is a sword technique of Mount Hua that is composed of the first stance Plum Blossom Alongside The Road up to the fourteenth stance called the Faded Plum Blossom.”

The Twenty Stances of the Plum Blossom Sword was composed of twenty stances, just like its name implied. If you are able to execute up to the Thousand Miles Plum Blossom Essence, your sword will start to emanate the scent of the plum flower.

In the past, he had laughed at it saying how good it was to smell the scent of the plum flower but that was a really foolish thought.

Releasing the scent of the plum flower while executing a sword stance meant that it could influence the laws of nature itself.

It was a boundary all swordsmen could only dream of.

Disciples of Mount Hua Sect didn’t hold the Plum Blossom Sword Examiner as their idols for nothing.

““Right, you know it well. I will add a bit more explanation in case you make a misunderstanding. Even though the stances of the Fourteen Stances of the Plum Blossom Sword and the Twenty Stances of the Plum Blossom Sword may look similar, they are a bit different. If they were the same, wouldn’t the Fourteen Stances of the Plum Blossom Sword just be called the Twenty Stances of the Plum 

Blossom Sword?”

“You are talking about the reduced version of it, the lower compatibility with it.”

Ju Seo Cheon knew everything already but he still responded to 

Yu Jong Mok’s long explanation.

The Fourteen Stances of the Plum Blossom Sword was a scaled-down version of the Twenty Stances of the Plum Blossom Sword.

Its difficulty decreased as fourteen stances were organised into one sword technique but its power also decreased that much.

“You know it well. Good. That much is enough.”

Yu Jong Mok smiled in satisfaction at his disciple’s answer.

He then took a stance and executed the Fourteen Stances of the Plum Blossom Sword.

Ju Seo Cheon saw his master execute the Plum Blossom Alongside The Road and felt a pain in his chest.

‘I’m seeing something I couldn’t in my past life.’

In his past life, learning the Plum Blossom Sword Arts was already too much for him. Maybe it was because of that that Yu Jong Mok didn’t show Ju Seo Cheon any top-ranked martial arts. It was because it would be an obstacle for him.

Originally, he was planning to teach Ju Seo Cheon when he reached a certain level but unfortunately, he passed away before he could do so.

The number of times Ju Seo Cheon could see his master’s swordsmanship could be counted on one hand, even though they had the closest relationship as a master and disciple.

‘Ah, this is not the time to be like this.’

Ju Seo Cheon scolded himself inwardly and focused on Yu Jong Mok.

In their current state, Yu Jong Mok was much higher in terms of boundaries but Ju Seo Cheon was above as someone that had once become an Unrestrained Realm expert.

In reality, Ju Seo Cheon was able to grasp Yu Jong Mok’s sword and martial arts after a short time passed.

‘It seems perfect up to the ninth stance but he’s starting to get stuck from the tenth stance, the Fading Plum in Full Bloom. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like he’s lacking insight but training…

Ju Seo Cheon had also experienced the Fourteen Stances of the Plum Blossom Sword in his past life. He was confident that he would be able to execute it more perfectly than Yu Jong Mok if he was given a little bit of time and internal energy.

‘Huh?’

Ju Seo Cheon’s eyes started to shine.

“….Hap!”

Yu Jong Mok executed up to the fourteenth stance, the Faded Plum Blossom. He was sweating as if proving that he had spent quite a lot of stamina and internal energy.

“Now, those were all of the fourteen stances. But this bad master of yours is lacking in skills and wasn’t able to perfectly execute them. I’m sorry.”

He was Yu Jong Mok indeed. Normally, they would put on some airs to try to act cooler in front of their disciples.

No, even if they weren’t in front of their disciples, most martial artists and the ones belonging to the Righteous Faction especially had a high pride.

They would be embarrassed about their lacking abilities and would try to hide it but Yu Jong Mok revealed it like nothing and apologized saying that he couldn’t show his martial arts properly.

“No, it’s okay master!”

Ju Seo Cheon clapped his hands with eyes filled with unlimited trust.

“It was an outstanding sword art that martial artists and even the leaders of Murim would gasp with exclamation!”

“You brat, didn’t you hear the words ‘Too much water drowns the miller’? Excessive compliments are heard as flatteries.”

Yu Jong Mok laughed.

But it didn’t seem like he was in a bad mood.

“I will take that into account master.”

That wasn’t flattery at all.

To Ju Seo Cheon, Yu Jong Mok was something akin to a God.

“Now, do you want to see another sword technique? Now that it turned like this, I will show you something else.”

Ju Seo Cheon cheered inwardly at those words.

And differently to his feelings, he acted like a simple ten-year-old kid that had a strong curiosity.

“I want to see the Five Elements Plum Blossom Sword Art master.”

“You are giving this master of yours the opportunity to restore my incompetence. I have already completed the Five Elements Plum Blossom Sword Art early on so I will show you all of it.”

Disciples of the head temple would learn a few top-ranked martial arts after they complete the Plum Blossom Sword Arts and one of them was the Five Elements Plum Blossom Sword Art.

“Master, this lacking disciple of yours is lacking knowledge so I couldn’t see what passed in front of my eyes when you executed the Fourteen Stances of the Plum Blossom Sword. Pardon my rudeness but will you be able to do it slowly this time?”

“Of course.”

Yu Jong Mok got really satisfied when his ten-year-old disciple showed great passion for studying martial arts

He had talent and his posture was also excellent. He was really proud as a master to have a disciple like this.

Yu Jong Mok started to execute the first stance of the Five Elements Plum Blossom Sword Art slowly, just like Ju Seo Cheon requested.

As a point of comparison, it was considerably harder to execute any martial art slowly than it was to do it quickly.

It took a lot of strength, endurance, and energy to slowly swing a sword.

The same applied to concentration. This was due to the fact that slow execution of an art demonstrated a high level of awareness.

Even if they had previously practiced a martial art, if it wasn’t at the level of the Plum Blossom Sword Arts, they would still require a lot of focus.

And it was exactly what Ju Seo Cheon was looking for.